


Hide Me in A Hollow Heart

by Innocentfighter



Series: Jason Todd Birthday Week [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Dissociation, Gen, Illnesses, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd is Alive, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Lazarus Pit, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Resurrected Jason Todd, Shifter AU, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Werewolves Turn Into Actual Wolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 23:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15673761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocentfighter/pseuds/Innocentfighter
Summary: After Jason comes back, he doesn't shift in fear of what could happen. Tim worries about him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note I just love the idea that Jason is the biggest in the Batfamily. I love it. It comes into almost all of my stories. He's really big and I love him. Uhh, also this is part of a series that I'm working on. It'll take a minute to write and post since it's just been an idea. Please enjoy!

       Jason needed to shift. He hadn’t since he returned to Gotham and he was starting to feel the effects. The last decent rest he had gotten was a two-hour nap he had when he had settled Lian down for her own nap. That had been dangerous, he had woken up with his sense heightened, and his wolf starting to push past the wall he had built and the pit madness stronger.

He couldn’t trust his wolf to keep the pit madness away, and he knew exactly what that would mean for anyone in his vicinity. Unfortunately, that meant his physical health went neglected; Jason knew that he could easily go to the Bats for help, they could subdue the wolf, the problem was he wasn’t sure he could pull himself back from that pit.

The last time he went wolf, he was in that form for three months before Talia fed him some League herbal remedy. He couldn’t do that again, he’s lost too much of his life already to things he couldn’t remember.

“Jason?”

Jason leaped from the bed and pressed his back against the wall. His wolf pushed past the barrier some and his sense heightened. The scent hit him first and it registered as a threat, he pulled his lips back and sniffed again. This time the simple smell of Pack Leader was present, and he felt himself relax. He figured that being around his Pack would be able to help some with his body’s dumber necessities, but it was only his body that thought of the Batfamily as a pack and even then, it always registered as a threat first.

“Jason, calm down,” the voice was saying again, and he focused, “its Tim.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my territory,” Jason winced at the grave tone of his voice.

He needed to calm down or the wolf would come out.

Tim frowned, “you haven’t been on patrol for a week, usually you let someone know where you went.”

It hasn’t been a week. Jason narrowed his eyes, he didn’t remember the last time he left the apartment. Truthfully, he didn’t remember the last time he ate, it must have been hours ago.

“What day is it?” Jason growled.

Tim went lower, “it’s Monday.”

It _has_ been a week. _That’s not good._

Tim’s frown deepened, “Jason, what day do you think it is?”

"Thursday?” He tried.

That made Tim react, he sniffed the air and his eye went wide, “Jason when’s the last time you shifted?”

“What does it matter?” Jason closed his eyes to push back the wolf.

“Your scent, it’s _wrong.”_

Tim whined? He must be dying for _Tim_ to vocalize anything wolf related.

“How do you know what my scent is supposed to be?” Jason pressed his back harder in the wall, he was losing this fight. His wolf wanted _out._

“We’re Pack,” Tim nearly shouted, “it’s been five years, but your scent never left the walls of _home._ I could _never_ forget it.”

Jason huffed, “sentimental.”

Tim shot him a look, “why do you smell sick?”

“It’s nothing you need to be concerned about,” Jason growled and moved from the wall.

He needed to put space between them. His control was slipping.

Tim stood in front of the door. His arms were crossed, and his posture was assertive but not aggressive.

Jason’s wolf didn’t react well to it, and he had to slam his fist into the wall to keep from shifting. Tim jumped at the sudden movement, but his eyes locked onto something on Jason’s arm. He closed his eyes, this was a conversation he never wanted to have. Resurrections didn’t happen, there was no research on what it did to a Pack bond.

He still had his mark claiming him as part of the Wayne Pack.

“Jason,” Tim’s voice was higher than normal, “you’re still-”

“Shove it, Timmy,” Jason growled, and his teeth started to elongate. He pushed himself away from the other and towards the window.

“Wait,” Tim shot out in front of him, “that’s not how this works.”

“It is right now,” Jason glared, “I need to get out of here.”

“You can’t leave,” Tim demanded, and his scent changed to angry.

Jason roared before he realized what he was doing and had to shove himself shoulder first into the wall to keep from fully shifting. The pain would only do so much, and the pit madness clouded his thoughts. It would be long before he succumbed, and if Tim stayed, and stayed angry, there was very little he could do.

Tim whined and it high pitched which meant he was scared. Jason responded to it automatically sniffing the area for something more of a threat, there was nothing but their two strong scents warring with each other. He relaxed marginally, but it didn’t answer the question of why Tim was scared. It was frustrating, but he wasn’t angry which was something Jason could work with.

“Why are you acting like this?” Tim asked.

“Pit,” he grunted out.

"The madness? I thought you could control it,” Tim pressed into his personal space.

Jason let out a warning bark, thankfully Tim backed up to the other side of the room.

"I can sometimes,” he forced out, “wolf can’t.”

He saw Tim’s face morph through several different emotions, finally settling on worried. Tim let out another high-pitched whine.

“So, you haven’t shifted since the pit?”

Jason shook his head, “no, Gotham.”

It was taking all his will to keep from shifting. His senses were fully heightened and the noise from the city was already grating on his nerves. Too much of it echoed the same noise he heard as a freshly disowned pup and it made his wolf even more on edge.

“Two years?” Tim gasped, “how are you-”

"Leave,” Jason ordered.

Tim narrowed his eyes, “no.”

_"Please.”_

That made Tim ease closer and this time Jason pushed back until his back was in a corner. Tim’s scent changed. Jason dug his nails into his palm.

"Don’t.”

"We’re Pack,” Tim mumbled, “you won’t hurt me.”

Jason growled. He shoved off from the ground and out of the window faster than Tim could react. His feet hit the fire escape and he leaped from the landing to the alley below. It jarred his legs, but he rolled with the landing which kept him from breaking them.

Like he had hoped the impact was enough to clear his head. Jason sprinted down the street. Tim would be able to follow him for some distance, but Jason was faster, and Tim was never the best tracker. He wasn’t on good terms with his Pack, but he wouldn’t attack them (again). His wolf would kill them, he was sure of it.

He needed to get out of Gotham City, even though everything told him he needed to go to Wayne Manor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, two chapters.

_“He’s still Pack.”_

Bruce didn’t remember much of the conversation beyond that. He had caught up with Tim at Jason’s apartment, while he had been worried for his second son it increased tenfold when Tim told him he had seen the Pack mark. Jason hadn’t wanted anything to do with them, so Bruce had figured that he’d take himself out of the Pack.

Not that he had time to dwell on the realization, from what Tim had told him Jason needed someone. Bruce trusted all his Pack to be able to handle themselves, they would have never been on the streets if they couldn’t, but Jason put two of them in the hospital just to show that he could. The pit madness had overridden Jason’s instincts (or that’s what Bruce hoped) because Pack shouldn’t be able to hurt Pack. This wasn’t something he wanted his kids to deal with.

If Jason shifted, Bruce wasn’t sure how much of a fight his kids could put up. Jason’s wolf had been as large as Bruce’s own at 15, and considering he was now 20 and almost 5 inches taller he was sure the wolf was larger and stronger than his. It didn’t help that Jason had always had more of an instinct to move with his wolf. This was dangerous for even Bruce.

He followed the scent through the nearby woods of Gotham. His nose picked up the slight difference of Jason shifting from human to wolf. Bruce slid to a stop and lifted his head and sniffed again. There was a note of distress, and the scent was only a few minutes old. He changed his path and head directly towards it.

The first thing that he noticed was labored breathing. It was heavy and raspy and the cadence was all wrong. He ran faster and stumbled over something on the way. There was a low whine of pain. Bruce stilled, slowly he spun around to find a wolf laying on the ground, in the light he could only make out the unearthly green glow of Jason’s eye.

Jason was clearly in pain, as his head lolled back to the ground and his eyes closed. There wasn’t much communication to be had in the different forms, but he didn’t want to cause a negative reaction from Jason. It was a surprise that he hadn’t been growled at. Bruce hesitated only for a second when another pained whine left Jason throat.

He shifted slowly, enough to let the other know what he was doing. Jason’s ear flicked in acknowledgment of the noise and his nose twitched, but otherwise, there was no reaction. Bruce knew what the problem was, Jason hadn’t shifted fully for two years apparently, but he had no idea how to address it. His kids usually remained in their wolf forms when they were feeling distressed. The pit madness in the wolf must have truly disturbed Jason for him to refuse to shift.

As soon as he was fully shifted, Bruce could feel the neglected part of a Pack bond snap into place, and parts of Jason’s distress and pain flooded his brain. He could feel Tim and Dick’s worry, Damian was mostly confused. Alfred was dimmer and so were the girl’s which meant they hadn’t been told yet.

Jason’s eyes opened again, and he pushed himself from his fully prone position. He didn’t stand, Bruce doubted he could, but he was more alert than a few minutes ago. It was a win in Bruce’s book. The scent still registered as distressed, but it wasn’t as sharp as before although Jason’s overlaying scent was strangely his own Years ago, Jason had smelled like that when he was a street kid trying to survive after his parents kicked them out of their Pack. Bruce whined sharply at the realization.

It was the wrong noise to make because Jason’s ears laid flat on his head and his fur bristled. There wasn’t enough light to confirm what Tim had told him about the Pack mark, although he doubted he would be able to see it, with how dark Jason’s coat was. Bruce let a soothing rumble leave his chest, it was barely audible, but the noise should be familiar enough to Jason and its meaning clear.

He didn’t want to fight, he wanted to comfort. Jason’s ears slowly perked up, but he made no move to indicate what he wanted. Bruce stepped forward, raising one paw, again he gave Jason enough time to make his preferences clear. He eased forward and telegraphed each movement with exaggerated care. Jason allowed him to near, his eyes watching him, and his body tensed, but there was still no outright hostile reaction.

Bruce took a deep breath, and before he could talk himself out of it, brushed his cheek against Jason’s. The reaction was almost instant, Jason jerked backward his eyes flashed in surprise, but it wasn’t a dismissal. Instead, his head tilted to the side as an invitation. It had been a long time since he scented his kids, when they were younger it was the quickest and best way to calm them down from their distress, especially when it was his actions that caused it.

As they grew older, it still happened but less frequently. Dick still appreciated the closeness it brought, and Damian was still young, but they never scented as a group anymore. Not since Jason died, the missing scent was enough to rub the never-closed wound raw.

Bruce ran his body against Jason’s, and the tenseness in his body eased some. The others were probably worrying about why this was taking too long, but until Jason’s emotions were under control there was no way that they could get anywhere. He wouldn’t be able to shift back. Less worryingly was the light from the Lazurus’ magic was fading, Jason was coming out of the madness.

A low rumble vibrated his chest and Bruce returned the gesture. Jason would probably do better with everyone, this would only be a temporary fix.

Bruce wasn’t sure how long he scented Jason for, but finally, his son stood up. Like Bruce had guessed, Jason’s wolf had become much larger than his own and he was grateful Jason had been able to get away from Tim who was barely larger than Damian and almost full grown.

Bruce sat back and watched the wolf slowly form the human version of his son. As Jason recovered, from what must have been a difficult shift, Bruce returned to his own human form. Jason looked up after several minutes.

“You came after me,” Jason’s voice was low.

“Of course I did,” Bruce replied gently.

Jason shook his head, “you shouldn’t have, I would have killed you.”

“I had to,” Bruce set his hand on Jason’s shoulder.

Jason looked at the appendage, his eyebrows furrowed, “I can’t control it.”

“We’ll help you.”

There was silence, Jason kept staring at the hand. Bruce sniffed him quietly, the scent was better still sharp with illness, although he mostly smelled Jason and his own blending together. The others would react to their own missing scents, but that was something easily remedied. He was sure their Pack bond could do with group scenting.

“Let’s go home.”

Jason looked up at him, it was the same defiant stare that drew Bruce to him when he was a kid, this time it was teal eyes instead of dark brown eyes, but the look belonged to his son completely.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always leave your comments below!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! As always, comment your thoughts below.


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